Adelaide United's Antony Golec has delivered a homophobic rant on Twitter at the Ben Williams, the A-League referee who reduced Melbourne Victory to nine men on Saturday night.

The former Sydney FC defender initially used his Twitter account to post "Ben Williams worst referee ever", after the official ejected two Victory players in the first half of their 2-2 draw with Brisbane Roar.

Williams sent off Melbourne goalkeeper Ante Covic in the second minute, then dismissed his teammate Matthew Foschini for a studs-up tackle later in the first half. Golec followed up his first comment with the tweet: "Ben Williams you are gay, biggest homo going around, you gypsy". The reaction was unsurprising, with his Twitter account deleted soon after.

Golec, yet to make his debut for Adelaide, has been ordered by his club to write a letter of apology to Williams and the Reds also plan to heavily punish the 21-year-old on Monday.

"The club is extremely disappointed that Antony has placed himself in this position. He is sincerely apologetic for the incident," the Reds said in a statement.

"Antony has been directed by the club to immediately forward a letter of apology to Ben Williams for the comments he made in the tweet. Antony will be required to meet with Adelaide United CEO Glenn Elliott on Monday morning where he will be heavily censured."

Golec will also have to attend educational courses aimed at stopping him using demeaning language. Adelaide has claimed the tweet was intended to be sent only to Golec's brother, but was instead transmitted publicly - although the tone used seems to indicate otherwise."

The FFA have yet to react to the incident but will be unlikely to simply accept the apology, with potential sanctions from them for bringing the game into disrepute. Some fans and members of the gay community have also reacted angrily, saying that the apology missed the point - with the use of such homophobic slurs obviously being offensive to much more than just the referee they were directed at.

@mrschanBNE: "As an openly gay football fan, the 'apology' missed the point completely."

@jcohen92: "Surely the anti homophobic suggestions are worse than having a go at a ref."

@gixibyte: "What Golec doesn't get is that homophobia was the problem, not insulting the ref...we all do *that*."